Back in Fallcrest, after an hour or so at the Inn the fledgling adventuring party have got themselves hired- they have been employed to investigate the Beggars Guild, it seems shadows haunt the streets after dark around Cutpurse Alley, several citizens have just vanished in the night. The Fallcrest City Watch want to know what's going on, and they don't want to upset the balance, the Beggars Guild is a powerful entity, the Watch therefore needs a third (and expendable) party to check things out- enter the PCs.

Each of the PCs knows some rumour about the Beggars Guild, or else their locale, they quickly decide to share their knowledge-

The Beggar King rules the Beggars Guild with an iron hand, the shadowy slayers that haunt the place are the ghosts of dead Thieves, slain when the Beggars forcibly moved the Thieves Guild out many years ago.

The Beggar King has been hiring mercenaries of late to fight his battles for him, something strange is afoot.

The Beggar King and his cohort dabble in Dark Magic, they have conjured some foul plague creature that haunts the streets nearby at night.

The Beggar King's Throne Room contains all manner of deadly traps, only those that are invited in are (mostly) seen again.

A living creature made from smoke lairs within the Beggar King's domain, this foul miasma can strip a man's flesh from his bones in the blinking of an eye.

A little while later, fortified by strong drink the adventurers head out to Cutpurse Alley...

Remember this is a one-off game played to kill time- not a complex campaign etc. with more time we would have done a lot more RP to gain the rumours above, as it was the players rolled a die and I handed out torn off strips of paper, one each.

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Four of the five characters are Pre-gens with a little bit of fixing here and there, I’ve no idea from where, as I’ve stated previously this was all about us just getting down and dirty, getting in to the game.

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Scurvy & Skamos head down the dark and dirty alley, being very quiet. Scurvy spots a pair of guards on a nearby roof- they’re in an ideal position to fire down on those that would approach, the pair don’t like the odds and so head back to report to their fellows.

The gang make their way back out of the alley and a little way away, and then quietly as they can climb onto the roof of a half-ruined slum dwelling, on the same side as the guards.

Scurvy and Riardon attack the nearest sentry, bloodying him in an instant- their attacks are timed to coincide with Skamos’ call, which coincidentally occurs at the very moment the guards are closest together.

Skamos’ Scorching Burst catches all of them, leaving the sentry already injured staggering and singed, the other four just singed.

Note three of Skamos’ attack rolls were ‘20’- that’s something I’ve not seen before, although at first level a ‘20’ only generates 11 points of Fire damage each- but still, that’s enough, the encounter is almost over before it’s begun. I have to deliver a stern warning to several players for excessive giggling- this is serious stuff.

Erais and Corrin move a little closer to the action, on the off chance one of them will get to draw their swords before it’s all over.

The guards quickly organise themselves and start the fight back, drawing short swords and trying to form a defensive line- things don’t go to plan for them however. The badly singed guard is no longer up for the fight, he tries to get the hell out of dodge, Scurvy stabs him in the back and cuts him down.

The four remaining guards press the attack- all aiming for their closest opponent, Scurvy; the result of which is the dwarf takes a couple of minor wounds, and hits back with his Riposte Strike bloodying another.

Erais chants and mumbles and points at a guard, the unfortunate fellow juggles his sword in a panic as the Sunlord’s Cause Fear spell strikes, and then flees at speed- attempting to leap across the alley to safety on the far side.

He fails, and falls, landing sprawled in the alley with a thud.

He stirs and moans. Surprisingly, he’s still alive- just.

For good measure the priest taps Scurvy on the back and the dwarf’s wounds instantly heal over.

Riardon suddenly appears on the far side of the sentries, using his Fey Step, bow at the ready he launches an arrow and bloodies yet another.

Skamos skitters up to the peak of the roof for a better view, and then hurls down a Force Orb in to the midst of the now panicking sentries, the orb shatters and explodes- battering the three remaining guards- two are left lurching- trying to muster the strength to go on, the third flops to the floor and then slides down and off the roof- dead.

Two down.

Corrin, at last, arrives at the scene- the halfling paladin calls out a Divine Challenge to one of the two remaining miscreants on the roof, but then alas follows up with a wayward attack.

The last two guards have seen enough, they throw down their swords and swiftly surrender.

The straggler in the alley meantime slowly lurches to his feet, looks up in time to see his compatriots’ capitulation and half-staggers half-rushes to a previously hidden door in the shadows of the alley. Scurvy is the only one of the adventurers to spot the foul fellow. The dwarf rogue has just one chance, his dagger flies- and cuts the guard down dead.

Three down

500XP Level 1 Encounter.Human Sentries Level 1 Skirmisher x5

Comment: Professional job by the players, and already they like their new PCs, and adventuring in the city, the atmosphere is somehow easier to generate around the table. Also it helped with the roleplay that the Sentries were Human, I could therefore play on stereotypes and have them shout weird and wonderful insults at the PCs.

A minor Skill Challenge (improvised) follows as the PCs tie and gag the two guards and get them to tell all that they know about what lies beyond. The door in the alley leads to the Bazaar of the Bizarre, a shop, of sorts, for down-and-outs, and the way into the Beggar King's domain. The shop is run by Arthuro the Fence, and a couple of hired ruffians, other than that the Sentries know little else of import. The PCs leave the two prisoners to sit and soak in the rain- time to consider where they went wrong in life.

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The adventurers burst in to the Bazaar, a musty and foul-smelling curiosity shop- stuffed with shelves and racks full of all manner of street ‘found’ junk. They get all agitated- offering those spotted within (two swarthy-looking ruffians) a way out- leave now or face the consequences. Erais gets particularly angsty, lots of stuff about 'letting Amaunator's Light into their dark and hideous souls'.

There follows a short chat in which the adventurers are likewise invited to leave, only not so politely put, something to do with 'sex' and 'travel'. By this time a ratty fellow has sorta appeared on the scene, the guys can't see Arthuro the Fence- he's hidden in a doorway behind the Bazaar's counter, but they can hear him whispering instructions to the two ruffians.

Skamos slams a Magic Missile in to one of the ruffians, and then scurries away to hide behind an over-stuffed shelf. Riardon meantime pins the other with an arrow.

A ‘20’ from Riardon, this time for 22 points of damage and the Human Tough is almost bloodied in an instant.

The two ruffians gang up on Corrin but the halfling paladin keeps them at bay, although he fails to land an attack of his own.

Scurvy looks for a better position, for which read safer and away from the bad guys, the dwarf tries to climb one of the racks stuffed with all manner of guff- the Bazaar’s wares. Alas a shelf snaps and Scurvy almost falls, he has to search for a new hiding place.

Erais meanwhile goes looking for the whispering Arthuro, eventually spies the dishevelled rogue and moves forward, the Sunlord is caught by Arthuro’s thrown dagger en route.

Skamos, still in hiding, throws another Force Orb in to the mix- timing it perfectly to hit both of the ruffians, they’re bloodied, one of them staggering and on his last legs- Riardon fires again and takes him down.

The remaining ruffian begins screaming for someone called ‘TIMMY!’, then dodges forward and menaces Corrin with his mace, the halfling paladin avoids the attack more by luck than judgement, courtesy of his Second Chance power.

Scurvy catches Arthuro with a thrown dagger, the fence takes up his compatriots call- ‘TIMMY!’, then dodges back behind the counter, and out of the action.

Corrin slices the remaining ruffian, who is now battered and bloodied- and not long for this world.

Skamos gestures and points and another Magic Missile flies from his hand, this time aimed at Arthuro- but the rogue is too quick again, he dodges back out of danger.

Dave, who plays Skamos, was given the choice of either the auto hit Magic Missile or else the roll to hit variant, he chose the latter- it does more damage.

Riardon’s bow sings and the remaining ruffian flops to the floor dead.

Emboldened, mostly by a lack of other enemies, Scurvy leaps on to the counter and swishes his blade at Arthuro- and again the rogue is much too quick. Arthuro, all the while, continues to scream for ‘TIMMY!’

And sure enough, Timmy appears.

A curtain is thrust aside and squelching from a small muddy looking store chamber comes the aforementioned (actually aforescreamed) Timmy, an Otyugh- a small and ancient-looking foul smelling squat tentacled aberration.

Timmy closes fast on Erais then lashes out, the Sunlord ducks just in time. Corrin sees his opportunity and closes in on the foul beast, issuing his Divine Challenge to the noisome creature. The halfling paladin cuts hard but Timmy easily keeps the little fellow at bay.

Scurvy is momentarily distracted by the new arrival- Arthuro strikes with his Easy Target attack and almost bloodies the dwarf, slashing at his legs and leaving Scurvy hobbling on the counter.

Erais fires off another Sacred Flame, this time at Timmy- the spell misses, scorching a bunch of the stuff on the shelves instead.

Skamos continues to stay out of the way, he fires off a pair of Magic Missiles (with an Action Point- the PCs have two each at this juncture), although only one of which hits Timmy, the scabby Otyugh doesn’t even flinch.

Riardon moves to get a clear shot and fires, and then fires again- he follows Skamos’ lead (another Action Point), his bow thrums but again only one of the missiles connects, Timmy shudders once and then gets back to flailing at Corrin.

Disappointing.

Scurvy lashes out at Arthuro, again to no effect, and then sucks up the hurt- the dwarf’s wounds close over as he gets his Second Wind.

Corrin and Timmy continue to slash and slap at each other frantically- alas neither is blessed with the finesse needed to connect.

Erais shoots a beam of radiant light, a Lance of Faith, at Timmy- it too hits wide of the spot, scorching the curtains behind the Otyugh.

Skamos and Riardon continue to fire in to the melee, as targets present themselves, both are however bad shots- or so it seems.

Scurvy slashes again at Arthuro, but again the grinning rogue is too quick for the dwarf, the fence slashes back with an Acrobatic Strike. He tumbles on to the counter and is deftly on his feet- facing off against Scurvy, who staggers back blood gushing from his wound.

Scurvy is bloodied in an instant, caught by Arthuro’s critical hit.

Timmy lashes out with a meaty tentacle and catches the less than agile Corrin, scooping the slight halfling up in to the air and crushing the life out of him.

Corrin instantly strikes back, twice- in quick succession (another Action Point) but fails to connect with either of his attacks.

Erais mumbles and chants, seconds later the grinning Arthuro suddenly looks terrified, overcome with fear the rogue leaps from the counter, taking a stab to the hand from Scurvy as he departs at speed. The keeper of the Bazaar dashes for a set of stairs, he rushes up them taking three steps at a time gibbering and wailing like it’s the end of the world.

Scurvy, reinvigorated, leaps from the counter and tumbles closer to Timmy, lashing out at the aberrant, the creature avoids the blow and back pedals furiously- heading for the scorched curtain and its muddy lair.

Corrin however has other ideas, held upside down suspended over Timmy’s head (?) the halfling lances down with his sword and buries six inches of the radiant blade in to the beast’s brain.

Timmy slowly, and in stages, collapses- Corrin staggers free of the Otyugh’s grasp and gets to his feet grinning.

Just in time to hear Erais shout, the Sunlord points back up the stair, rushing down the steps are several mangy humans, dressed in what look to be dog-skins.

Skamos peeks out from his hiding place and makes frantic shapes with his hands, seconds later flame erupts in the stairway, the first four Dog Brothers are caught in his Scorching Burst, their flea-infested skins and hides are crisped and burnt, as is their flesh.

The Dog Brother at the head of the queue staggers forward and takes an arrow to the shoulder, from Riardon, he leaps the counter- continues on and cuts hard at Skamos who ducks behind a set of shelves just in time.

The second Dog Brother charges at Erais and stabs the Sunlord in his side. Erais is bloodied.

The third makes the bottom of the stairs and then spins out a dagger, which fortunately sails well wide of the Sunlord.

The last two Dog Brothers, snarling all the way, continue to scramble down the stairs and in to the action.

Suddenly there’s a loud foetid squelching parp, back in the curtained doorway Timmy’s corpse explodes sending wobbling chunks of foul flesh all over the chamber- squirming in the wreck of the beast are a clutch of foot long grey maggots.

Two of the foul worms crawl forward, with surprising speed; in search of food- they find Corrin.

The halfling paladin slices one of the maggots in two, avoids the others flailing bite and rushes to Erais-

“Fight on my friend.”

Corrin declares, his touch brings new strength to the Sunlord as he Lays On Hands.

Scurvy slashes at the nearest Dog Brother- already scorched the foul human staggers back bloodied. Erais targets the same fellow; his Sacred Flame alas is awry, so he follows up with a Lance of Faith (another Action Point) and scorches a hole in the middle of the miscreant’s head.

Erais uses his Power of Amuanator to deliver six extra points of radiant damage and secure the kill.

Arthuro, unseen by any of the adventurers, peeks through the curtains at the top of the stairs; he seems to be grinning, enjoying the show.

Skamos scarpers, ducking and dodging a Dog Brother’s blade, the tiefling fires off another Scorching Burst at the last two Dog Brothers just getting in to the action, the one already scorched burns some more and staggers, bloodied.

The curtain at the top of the stairs is suddenly ripped aside; standing silhouetted there is Irocar, the Dog Brother’s leader. The war captain has his longbow in hand, he aims and fires, the arrow thuds in to Skamos’ shoulder, the tiefling strangles his cry, bloodied.

“You’ll be getting my fist!” Arthuro shouts in reply from the top of the stairs, safe behind Irocar, the angry fence waves his fist about a bit to reinforce his point.

Corrin rushes over to the fallen Scurvy, cuts and burns with his Holy Smite the as yet uninjured Dog Brother that menaces his companion, the halfling then thumps the dwarf on the shoulder-

“Get up! Get at ‘em!”

Scurvy’s cuts and bruises once again heal over, the dwarf grins.

Erais meantime, losing blood fast, dodges back swatting without effect at the two grubs menacing him- he mutters and mumbles holy Healing Words, his wounds are almost gone.

Skamos to the rescue, the tiefling drops another Scorching Burst crisping two of the three grubs and freeing Erais from their terror. Not content Skamos mutters and points- a Magic Missile smashes in to the Dog Brother now facing off against Corrin, it too is bloodied (after another Action Point).

Riardon suddenly blinks out… and then back in again, his Fey Step positioning just in line with- Thunk, his arrow hits and the aforementioned Dog Brother is taken down.

What a team- the adventurers share a grin, as do the players.

Too soon.

Irocar takes the last few steps at a rush, spills his bow, draws his sword and charges on- arriving just in time to stab Skamos in his gut, the tiefling looks down at all the blood and the mess of his insides and then thumps to the floor- dying.

Irocar howls his delight; the two remaining Dog Brothers echo his call, and then get in to the action. The first rushes at Scurvy, who shuts his eyes, lolls his tongue out and plays dead (Bluff 21), the Dog Brother stabs out at Corrin instead but the paladin parries the blow. Scurvy winks at the now scowling halfling paladin.

The second Dog Brother catches Riardon with his blade, only a nick however- the ranger dodges back and with a Fox’s Cunning fires his bow, and misses the mangy human from point blank range.

And yet another pair of the grisly maggots exit Timmy’s carcass- one makes for Erais, bites the Sunlord, and menaces him further. The second gets Corrin’s attention in a similar manner, the halfling looks horrified as his wound pulses blood- he’s bloodied.

The last maggot bites in to one of the Dog Brothers, no-one in the Bazaar is safe from these monstrosities.

Scurvy leaps to his feet and stabs out at the Dog Brother he hoodwinked earlier in to believing he was dead- he almost spills his blade- that’s not right.

He tries again (courtesy of an Action Point) and this time does indeed drop his dagger.

Well, that was a ‘1’ followed by a ‘1’, nice attack rolls.

Arthuro meanwhile moves a little way down the stairs, readying his dagger, the fence however keeps his distance, content to shout and offer advice.

“Scrag ‘im Irocar!”

And,

“Stab ‘im in ‘is crown jewels!”

Corrin meanwhile is all action, he calls the closest Dog Brother to him out with his Divine Challenge, stabs the fiend with his holy blade, leaving the forlorn soldier stumbling and tripping over his own feet. Corrin stretches and reaches down- tags Skamos, the tiefling’s eyes flutter open- he’s alive.

The halfling is still not content, he takes a moment to settle his own nerves; he gets his Second Wind (after an Action Point) and readies himself for more action.

Erais extricates himself from the battle, although the Sunlord is stabbed in the process, he weaves his hands and chants solemnly, suddenly Irocar is bathed in a Cascade of Light, which burns. The Dog Brother champion screams.

Irocar’s hit for 23 points of radiant damage by Erais’ Daily power.

But like Corrin, Erais isn’t finished, a Lance of Faith strikes Irocar next, scorching him further. Irocar has to grab at the counter for support- he’s bloodied.

Skamos clambers to his feet, using the shelves for support, he finds himself much too close to the action and decides quickly not to get involved, he takes a moment to catch his breath and get his Second Wind.

Riardon shifts back a step, sites his bow precisely and fires, the second to last Dog Brother succumbs to his wounds and flops to the floor.

“Fight me!”

Riardon declares and pointedly stares at Irocar.

Irocar grins, lashes out his blade at Skamos and cuts deep, re-opening the tiefling’s freshly healed wounds; Skamos looks dizzy for a moment and then slumps back down to the floor again. Irocar’s blade continues its arc and bites in to Corrin- the paladin doesn’t look happy, whereas the Dog Brother leader looks ecstatic- he’s Unstoppable.

Irocar uses his Unstoppable power to gain 13 temporary hit points.

The last Dog Brother stabs at Scurvy, alas he’s still subject to Corrin’s Divine Challenge, he burns even as he misses with his blade, and has to grab on to Irocar just to stay on his feet.

But not for long… a stray squirming grub bites a great gaping hole in his right kneecap, the Dog Brother concertinas and collapses- dead.

And yet another pair of the grisly grubs exit Timmy, there are now five of these foul worms crawling around the Bazaar taking chunks out of the combatants.

This fact is brought home to the adventurers when two of the foul creatures manage again to tear chunks from Erais’ legs, the Sunlord staggers also.

Scurvy grabs out two of his daggers and launches them in a Blinding Barrage; the first just nicks Arthuro, the second catches Irocar in the forehead leaving a great bloody rent in his scalp. Blinded by the blood the Dog Brother leader flails wildly with his blade.

Scurvy judges his moment, leaps from the counter and buries yet another of his daggers deep in to Irocar’s chest (after an Action Point), only his determination keeps Irocar alive.

That’s enough for Arthuro, the fence hot foots it down the rest of the stairs and in to a nearby chamber- frantic noises issue from within, he seems to be engaged in making his exit.

Corrin smartly salutes Irocar, he challenges him, and then less than a second later skewers the last of the Dog Brothers with his blade- Irocar is dead.

Skamos coughs up a great gout of blood, the tiefling’s eyes are still tight shut.

That’s a failed Death Save.

Riardon heads behind the counter, away from the grubs- where’s Arthuro gone, he spies the fence climbing out of a window in what looks to be a bedroom, presumably his. Riardon’s bow sings and an arrow thuds in to the woodwork next to the fence’s hand, Arthuro jumps with surprise and falls out of the window- thumping in to the alley hard and knocking the wind out of him.

The grisly grubs menace the remaining adventurers- the result of which is Scurvy is bitten twice and left staggering from blood loss, Erais is bitten only once but with the same result- the pair are nearly out for the count.

Erais manages however to kill one of the worms, Corrin and Scurvy miss their targets- things are getting desperate, it doesn’t help that all three of the adventurers are still bleeding profusely.

And the last two grubs exit Timmy and creep in to play.

That’s five of the Otyugh Grubs still left crawling around the Bazaar.

Skamos continues to cough up blood, as he fails his second Death Save in a row.

Dave, who plays Skamos, looks like thunder- there’s a lot of nervous laughter around the table.

Riardon rushes back in to the Bazaar- abandoning his pursuit of Arthuro, he fires at a grub- and misses.

The grubs however continue to bring the pain; Corrin is bitten twice, Erais and Scurvy once each. Corrin and Scurvy are dizzy and light-headed, Erais is too far gone- the Sunlord collapses.

Erais is on -1 hit point, and I’m trying to help the guys here- the Otyugh Grubs are now moving randomly, overwhelmed by all the flesh that’s available for them to feast on. On their turns the grubs slither away from their previous attacker set to find a new foe- thus ensuring the adventurers get myriad attacks of opportunity against them as they depart. The guys miss every one of these- the grubs are AC 15- not impossible to hit.

It’s all too much for Scurvy, the dwarf suddenly sags and collapses from blood loss.

Ongoing damage reduces Scurvy to 0 hit points.

Meantime Arthuro, now on the outside of the Bazaar, picks himself up and flees back down the alley and out in to the night.

Corrin cuts one of the grubs down- the halfling however almost collapses from the strain of his actions.

Skamos chokes, one last time, on his blood- and dies.

Third Death Save failed in a row.

Dave gets up, without saying a word... and goes home.

Riardon shoots and kills one of the grisly grubs- there are just three of them left, however he attracts their attention, a pair of the foul creatures scuttle over and bite the eladrin ranger.

Corrin battles the other grub; the titanic struggle is a stalemate for now.

Scurvy suddenly moans as his body shudders.

The dwarf fails his first Death Save.

Riardon dodges back and fires again, another grub is sent to hell- just two left, alas both the survivors are on target, Riardon and Corrin are bitten again, the former now bloodied, the later- Corrin, barely hanging on.

It doesn’t help that the halfling misses the mark with his sword, and is still bleeding from his wounds.

Corrin is on one hit point.

Quietly, in a corner, Erais lays still- the colour suddenly fades from his face- the Sunlord is overcome by a deathly pallor.

Erais fails his first Death Save- he’s also still taking ongoing damage.

Riardon scuttles back some more, and then fluffs his shot; the grisly grub closes him down and rips another mouthful of flesh from one of his legs.

The grey maggot facing the staggering Corrin is likewise on target, the halfling stumbles, and then tumbles- the paladin is dying.

There’s just Riardon left (on five hit points), and two grubs of course.

Scurvy continues to convulse, if anything the shuddering gets worse.

That’s a second failure on his Death Save for the dwarf.

Riardon shuffles back some more, this time takes a moment to suck in air, the ranger gets his Second Wind, fortune favours the eladrin as at that exact moment all his wounds cease to bleed.

Corrin suddenly yelps, an unnerving sound, the paladin mumbles half-formed words, Erais looks paler still- his blood seems to be flowing away from all of his extremities, his hands are cold white and lifeless.

Corrin fails his first Death Save, Erais his second, the pair are also still taking ongoing damage.

Is it all going to end here?

Riardon, on his own now, shuffles back again to give himself the room he needs and fires again- the second to last grisly maggot is spiked by the ranger’s arrow- dead. The eladrin tries to keep the last grub at bay by kicking out at it, the creature writhes and lurches but fails to land its attack.

Riardon calmly takes another step back, almost on to the stairs now, and fires.

The last grub dies.

No time to lose!

The eladrin rushes over to the still convulsing Scurvy, who at Riardon’s first touch instantly calms, or else… no pulse, the dwarf is dead.

Scurvy fails his third Death Save.

Corrin yelps again, mumbles wildly- Riardon rushes over, he must be able to save the halfling.

Corrin fails his second Death Save.

The eladrin is quickly to work, Corrin is still alive- there’s a chance… and so it proves, seconds later Riardon grins, the halfling paladin’s pulse is strong and stable.

No time to celebrate, Riardon rushes around the bazaar and finally locates Erais, the priest.

He gets to work, moments later the Sunlord stirs.

Two PCs dead, one player gone home- a level 7 encounter bested, and two-and-a-half hours for the encounter, and at no point did it feel like grind.

Comment: And with that we call an end to the first session, certainly the last battle was titanic, it's a shame Skamos and Scurvy were killed but the PCs kinda got lost in the middle of the fracas. There were opportunities in which they could have edged back to a choke point; and when the grubs were about simply moved to higher ground, they instead seemed content to go toe-to-toe with an ever increasing number of bad guys. In part this was due to the slow feed of enemies into the mix, had the monsters all come at once then perhaps the PCs would have recognised the problem sooner, as it was- in a compact combat, they were often isolated and left to fend for themselves.

The first session took a little over three-and-a-half hours to play out; two combat encounters, although the above was a brute, and one trap encounter. The PCs will address the situation they're in next session- only three of them left and with very limited resources.

As for Dave, well we can only hope.

_________________My 4e Campaigns over at Obsidian Portal, check them out-

Dave (Skamos) has not returned, although he may be back some time in the future, I/we hope.

We’re down to three PCs- Corrin, Riardon and Erais, the guys are also in a precarious situation- basically lodged in the Bazaar of the Bizarre, the front door to the Beggar King's hideout. They have a plan though.

First off, after a little light looting, the PCs hide the bodies of the fallen, then they lock the door to the Bazaar, and board up the windows, placing a crudely written sign “closed due to infection” on the exterior, that should buy them some time. Riardon and Erais take a short rest, while Corrin is sent out into the city to gather some fresh blood, by which I mean new adventurers.

While the paladin’s gone Erais & Riardon check the Bazaar over and find all manner of good stuff (actually Riardon finds all of it)- a +2 Cloak of Resistance, a set of Masterwork Lockpicks, a Potion of Healing & a +1 Magic Wand. Although Erais does his fair share of the hard work, identifying the magical powers of all of the items found- save the Lockpicks.

Riardon's sporting a beautiful +2 Cloak of Resistance.

Erais also finds a secret chamber in Arthuro's bedroom, with a very fancy looking chest in it; the pair decide to wait to see if Corrin turns up with someone capable of opening the thing.

Two hours later Corrin returns-

Enter Kathra (Scurvy's cousin) a Level 1 Dwarven Fighter, out for revenge; and Tira Duskmeadow a Level 1 Half-Elven Warlock, who dabbles in most things, including Thievery- she's given the Masterwork Lockpicks, and the +1 Wand, although Erais insists these are only on loan until she proves her worth.

Then Erais shoves Tira towards the chest and tells her to 'get on with it.'

The façade of the chest is quickly removed, beneath it are seven drawers, each locked (possibly) and trapped (very possibly)

Drawer #1 Tira confirms is not trapped- FOOM, a poison needle jets out of the keyhole and lodges in her cloak, it doesn't break her skin- Tira smiles weakly. After a further 30 minutes of trying (6 Thievery Skill Checks) drawer one is abandoned, it simply cannot be opened.

Erais and the others don't look that convinced.

Drawer #2 isn’t trapped, but it is locked- Tira opens it first time- empty, damn.

Drawer #3 is likewise not trapped, and is eventually unlocked ten minutes later, 2 vials of Deathjump Spider Venom are within, Tira identifies the stuff.

Drawer #4 is also not trapped, Tira's convinced, right up to the point a Spear shoots out and slams into her chest. After a short rest and a further 15 minutes of tinkering she gets the drawer open, there’s a +1 Short Sword within, Corrin takes it.

Corrin feels mucho macho with his new +1 Short Sword.

There follows a short, but sometimes heated, conversation- Tira is not entirely happy with the present situation, finally it’s agreed that all of the adventurers will help to look for traps on the drawers.

Drawer #5 it is agreed by all present is not trapped. Tira opens it first time, there’s money within- a pile of gold and silver, the find is divided out.

Drawer #6 is 100% certain not trapped, confirmed again by all of the adventurers. Tira goes to open it and a Scything Blade lashes out nearly removing her left hand. Tira’s not happy again, another meeting is called.

After protracted negotiations Tira is back on the job, the +1 Magic Wand is hers to keep if she will continue on and open the remaining drawers- she’s on it.

Drawer #7 it is agreed by all present, once again, is definitely not trapped. Tira opens in ten minutes, there’s more poison and a supply of needles within.

Tira takes possession of the Wand and the Lockpicks, she’s earned them.

Tira takes possession of a +1 Wand, after stamping her feet a lot.

The adventurers settle down and take an hour or so to get to know each other; Corrin, Erais and Riardon also explain all that has happened so far in this place- soon after Tira and Kathra are up to speed with events.

After the extended chat Tira tries again to open drawers #1 & #6 in the chest, nope (she fails on three further checks for each).

The adventurers head upstairs and into Irocar and the Dog Brothers filthy quarters- a few silvers are found and an abundance of empty bottles of rotgut.

There’s nowhere else to go however…

That is until Erais finds a secret door, the Sunlord drags it opens and a spear shoots out buries itself in his chest.

The secret door is quickly shut again, while Erais gets his breath back and cures his wounds, during the stop it is decided that the Dog Brother’s quarters should be given a thorough search- there may be other traps or secrets still to find is the consensus.

And oddly, so it proves.

Erais spots a loose brick inside the chimney flue, he's a very perceptive Priest, he removes the brick- there’s a box within the hole which he drags out, it takes a bit of doing- it seems to be stuck, moments later the chimney collapses on him…

After another short rest Erais has calmed down enough to move on.

The box meanwhile has been thoroughly examined, unlocked and untrapped, within are the Priest’s just rewards- 5 Potions of Healing, some money, 4 silver spear heads & a +1 Holy Symbol of Battle.

Erais is quietly confident with his new +1 Holy Symbol of Battle.

There's also still a +1 Bastard Sword, looted from Irocar, to distribute- although no one present can wield it.

That’s enough for now, the adventurers decide on a full rest, a guard is set- and precariously balanced piles of noisy items placed in front of the two doors- the secret door and the exit to the alley, crude traps that will alert them if someone should attempt to enter.

The adventurers take a well-earned Extended Rest.

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Fully rested, and with nowhere else to go, the adventurers head back to the secret door that Erais found and head on in- into a grimy storeroom, there's a door on the far side, the guys quietly as they can shuffle across, midway Riardon stops- points.

A rat.

And another.

And…

Another.

And…

Another.

And…

You get the idea.

Moments later the adventurers are encircled by thousands of tiny pairs of eyes, glinting in the shadowy light- Swarms of Rats.

“Shhh…” Erais offers.Corrin stares at the Sunlord.“They may allow us to pass…” Erais finishes.

The adventurers are of course ready for them- Riardon fires his bow, Corrin and Kathra strike out with sword and hammer, Tira yells and points- fire forms, while Erais sends a burning radiant Lance of Faith in to the swarms.

It’s like an action movie.

Except that none of the attacks actually connect with the rats.

All five miss.

Moments later Kathra screams like a little girl as a swarm descends upon the dwarf and begins chewing on her lower legs.

The remaining four adventurers share a brief look- did that just happen?

“Kill ‘em” Corrin declares in a loud and commanding voice.

Riardon manoeuvres and fires in to a bolus of rats, at least a half-dozen of the rodents are skewered.

Rats nip and bite at Corrin, who likewise edges towards safety (surviving thanks to his Second Chance power), he slashes furiously as he goes- trying to protect Kathra with his shield- swatting at the swarm that surrounds the dwarf.

Tira Curses and blinds half of the rodents to her presence with her Eyebite attack- dulling the swarms senses, she too moves as far as she can away from the rodents.

Kathra cannot escape, she’s stuck in centre of the chamber- she bleeds, then tries to advance- back up, all to no avail, her warhammer crashes down again and again but the rats are much too fast.

Erais delivers another Lance of Faith, this time to marvellous effect scorching a swathe of rats, a critical success, the first swarm is bloodied.

Kathra continues to suffer, more bites, more blood- the dwarf staggers, bloodied. The other swarm menaces Corrin but the paladin swats wildly with his sword and keeps them at bay.

Riardon finally gets clear of the swarms, the eladrin continues to fire arrows in to the foul rodents- hitting again and again.

Corrin continues to keep the swarm that menaces him at bay, burning a few more of rats with his radiant Holy Smite.

Tira, like the ranger, is now clear of the threat- her second Eyebite however is poorly directed- and has no effect.

Which doesn’t help Kathra any, the rats are now climbing the dwarf’s legs- clinging on, biting in to her delicate parts.

The dwarf is situated within the aura of both swarms; she’s also taking ongoing damage. Kathra is quickly reduced to one hit point.

Kathra Cleaves in to her enemies, cutting a swathe through the first swarm and swatting dead several more rats in the second. She sucks up the hurt and gets her Second Wind.

Erais’s third Lance of Faith runs true once more- both swarms are now bloodied, the Sunlord mutters a prayer and almost all of Kathra’s wounds are healed.

Riardon continues to fire arrows in to the thickest parts of the swarms, thinning them out rapidly…

“Quickly!” The ranger states, urging his fellows to increase their pace.

Corrin staggers, the rats are now seeking to swamp the halfling, to bring the paladin down- climbing his body- biting, scratching- squeaking.

“GET OFF!”

Another Holy Strike, using the flat of his blade to swat and swipe the rodents from him- burning them with his blades radiant light.

Both swarms are nearly done for, on less than five hit points each.

Tira’s Cursed Eyebite comes again, and the swarm surrounding Corrin is scattered- the few rats remaining flee, the half-elf disappears in a puff of smoke, reappears a good fifteen or so feet away, courtesy of her Misty Step.

Kathra takes a few more bites but the dwarf is far from done- she thumps down her warhammer, time and time again, squashing, crushing- smashing.

The second swarm scatters.

Job done.

The adventurers breathe hard.

250 XP Level 1 EncounterRat Swarm Level 2 Skirmisher x2

Comment: Nasty things swarms, particularly when none of the PCs have Close or Area attacks, you just have to stand there and take it, keep dishing out half damage till they go away- particularly at close quarters.

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There’s nothing of interest to be found in the store room, the guys press on- there’s only one exit, a door which leads in to a larger shadowy chamber, a bunk room (Area 1-11 on the Map).

There's a light ahead however, Riardon creeps forward- he's the stealthiest of the bunch, through a makeshift bunk room to an open doorway on the far side, the source of the light. The eladrin spies beyond a foul and dirty laboratory inhabited by a pair of near-naked waddling humans, seemingly wearing only diapers, and an equally fat male tiefling.

The trio are conducting some manner of foul experiment.

Riardon doesn’t hang about, the ranger returns to his companions and relays this new information. There follows a brief discussion- a shoot first ask questions later policy is decided upon, although Corrin’s not happy- he’s out-voted.

The players are feeling a little fragile at this point- they figure anything could kill them in here, insightful.

Moments later the guys are at the doorway to the chamber, ready to launch their attacks.

Corrin dashes in to the chamber, to the closest of the waddling humans, and lashes out cutting the blubbering fellow- the eunuch screams- falsetto, Corrin attempts to make himself heard over the horrendous wailing of his victim- calling for the trio of bad guys to surrender.

There’s a moment when everything stops.

Then the fat tiefling yells-

“Destroy them all…”

Moments later the bleeding eunuch is bloodied, actually scorched as Tira delivers her Eldritch Blast- the volume of the eunuch’s screams goes up several notches.

Riardon’s arrow flies wide, perhaps an attempt to shut the human up. Kathra closes in on the action, moving towards the other near-naked human bodyguard.

Erais mumbles and points and the screeching eunuch suddenly looks terrified, the waddling human cuts and runs- overcome by fear, Corrin slices again and cuts him down.

The fat tiefling- Zeb’oltha, continues to shout in a fury, ordering the remaining eunuch to “kill the interlopers!”

The fat human obeys immediately, grabbing up a spiked chain from a workbench, it rushes forward and lashes out at Corrin- smashing the halfling down, leaving Corrin sprawling on the floor.

But not for long, the paladin leaps to his feet, momentarily embarrassed but still healthy- he charges at the fat tiefling and cuts the fellow, issuing his Divine Challenge while again yelling for his foes to surrender.

Tira follows up with her Witchfire, the remaining eunuch staggers scorched and bloodied, and again Riardon fires and misses.

The fat tiefling leader shifts back a little and with his skull-topped rod unleashes hell- on Corrin, Flames Of Phlegathos engulf the halfling paladin, Corrin collapses- dying.

Kathra dashes to the remaining eunuch and cuts hard, somehow the fat human manages to avoid the dwarf’s warhammer, but not however Erais’ Lance of Faith which burns a hole through the eunuch’s gut, the second fat man falls dead.

But is still on fire, the paladin staggers to his feet, takes a brief moment to get his Second Wind and then screams at the fat tiefling, now sans his bodyguards, to surrender or else meet his unmaker.

Zeb’oltha smirks and shakes his head- makes ready to unleash another spell, a moment later the tiefling has to scurry to avoid Tira’s Ray of Frost, he’s just quick enough.

Riardon fires.

Riardon misses.

Yet again.

Zeb’oltha shuffles back in to the action, grabs out with his hand, Corrin manages however to avoid the evil warlock’s Diabolic Grasp attack.

Kathra bustles over- swings again with her warhammer but is way off target, as is Erais with another radiant lance.

Corrin still burns, although not for much longer- the flames at last are dying down, the halfling delivers his Holy Strike and this time it’s the fat tiefling’s turn to scream.

Tira tries again with her Eyebite attack but Zeb’oltha resists her power.

Riardon fires and…

Misses.

Riardon has made four attack rolls so far, the highest of which has been an unadjusted '6'.

Zeb’oltha rises to his full height and calls down words of dark power- his Hellish Rebuke, Corrin is suddenly engulfed once more in flame, the halfling’s smile slips as he slams in to the ground.

Corrin is back to dying, down to -4 hit points.

Kathra is less than pleased, the dwarf slams her warhammer in to Zeb’oltha, at the same moment intense flames suddenly engulf Corrin again. The halfling opens his eyes, gasps and speaks-

“No prisoners!”

Then flails his limbs briefly, and dies.

Zeb’oltha’s Hellish Rebuke delivers another 10 points of fire damage to Corrin when Kathra hits him with her warhammer, thus reducing Corrin to -14 hit points, which is beyond his negative bloodied value (-13), Corrin is really dead.

“You did that!”

Zeb’oltha grins at Kathra.

There follows a brief interlude for the players to throw things- dice, miniatures etc.

The rule is fully explained to Iain, who plays Corrin, it turns out he did know the rule but... he's less than happy.

It should be noted that Iain was 'botting' Kathra for the above, he has in effect, killed his own PC.

Iain is now playing Kathra full time, and is out for vengeance.

Back to the action.

“Kill it!”

The Sunlord screams as another radiant beam fails to contact with the now grinning Zeb’oltha. Tira’s Cursed Eyebite however strikes home, Zeb’oltha screams and staggers- bloodied.

The fat tiefling screams for the adventurers to allow him to surrender.

His pleas fall on deaf ears.

Riardon fires.

And hits…

Glory be, the fat tiefling clutches at the wound and staggers some more.

Screams again to be allowed to surrender.

Kathra moves up close, and then shakes her head.

Zeb’oltha runs.

Kathra smashes her warhammer in to the fleeing tiefling warlock’s back- flattening the fat freak, killing him dead.

Comment: And that's the third PC down in only six encounters, only four of which were combat encounters, bad dice- naughty dice, tee-hee-hee.

Corrin's stuff is duly ransacked, his Potion of Healing taken by Kathra, his +1 Short Sword taken as party spoils. We had one extra character in-game already- five PCs with only four players, Dave's not returned to the fold. Therefore Ian (who guided Corrin to an early grave) takes control of Kathra.

The PCs go on to ransack Zeb'oltha's quarters and discover all manner of odd things, including a Scythe made from the fused (partial) skeleton of a Bone Devil, an unhatched, and still warm, (pseudo-dragon) egg, a set of +1 Cloth Armour (covered in all manner of mystical sigils- and blood/food stains), and a skull topped Rod allows the wielder to re-use already cast Encounter powers (it has a finite number of charges). Quite a haul- oh and don't Goodman Games do interesting treasures (and fluff) much better than Wizards.

Tira now with Zeb's Skull-Topped Magical Rod tucked in her belt.

Kathra eats the egg- no really; Iain is channeling Dave at this point.

Sated and rested, the PCs move on, head out of the only door and shamble across a dirty courtyard, it’s raining still, they head towards a dilapidated warehouse like structure.

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The courtyard is in area 1-13 on the map, the double doors lead in to the dilapidated warehouse.

There are noises coming from within the warehouse structure ahead, the doors are suddenly wrenched open and ranged before the adventurers are ten of the mangiest looking miscreants ever to walk the streets of Fallcrest. Dishevelled male humans- beggars, each one wields an improvised weapon of some sort- from table legs, to broken bottles, one of them has a sackful of turnips. The gang lurch forward- toward the adventurers, they’re about to bring a whole new meaning to the term 'aggressive begging.'

As if that wasn't enough Erais cries out, points up and left, a black smudge detaches itself from its inky roost amongst the roofs, and flutters down to join in the fun- a Shadow Bat Swarm.

The inky black bat storm moves remarkably quickly, in seconds it has surrounded Riardon- swarming the eladrin, trying to bite him- somehow the ranger ducks, dives and darts and miraculously avoids any harm.

Kathra meanwhile rushes forward Cleaves with her warhammer at the nearest pair of human beggars, and misses. The dwarf is not happy, and so tries again with her Passing Attack (after an Action Point)- two of the beggars are smashed to the cobbles, they’re not getting up ever.

The rest of the beggar’s react- Kathra is smashed on the back with a wooden plank, hit on the side with a lead pipe, jabbed in the gut with a table leg, lashed on the leg with a rusty chain and stabbed in the arm with a rusty knife.

She manages to dodge the artillery- three of the beggars move back and throw a bottle, a cobblestone and a turnip, respectively, at her.

Kathra looks like she’s in a world of hurt, and is bloodied by the beggar minions.

Tira however concentrates her efforts on the shadowy bat swarm, her Cursed Eldritch Blast strikes the flying vermin- but to no great affect.

Moments later Riardon extricates himself from the swarm, not without paying the price however, the bats frenzy and the eladrin is bitten numerous times- the creatures seem to have injected some cold and dark toxin in to him- he shivers and shakes furiously.

Riardon is taking ongoing 2 necrotic and cold damage from the swarm.

The eladrin quickly grabs out his bow, notches an arrow, and fires in to the thick of the swarm, and somehow contrives to miss everything.

Erais, the Sunlord, mutters a prayer and Kathra’s wounds heal over; he then launches a radiant beam at the bats- sears a great hole in the thickest part of the maelstrom.

The bats are further damaged as they’re vulnerable to radiant power.

Moments later, as Erais watches on several of the bats that he presumed to be dead, suddenly right themselves and flap back up off the cobbles and back in to the swarm- the thing is regenerating, Erais screams a warning to his compatriots.

WHOOOOSH!

The swirling bats suddenly burst out in every direction, their wings blinding all those within their reach not quick enough to shield their eyes- which turns out to be just Riardon, the eladrin staggers hurt again and now unable to see anything.

Riardon is blinded and on six hit points only.

Kathra meantime takes another two of the beggars down with her warhammer Cleave, and in return is stabbed again and smashed by another beggar wielding what looks to be a horse’s leg. Kathra is now surrounded by six beggars all trying to kill her.

Tira moves a little further back, launches another Cursed Witchfire attack at the bat swarm, which misses, and then tries again with an Eldritch Blast (after spending an Action Point), the swarm burns, but all too briefly.

Riardon staggers backwards, trying desperately to see what’s going on- where is he in relation to the swarm? The bat venom continues to eat away at him from within- chilling him to the bone in the process. The eladrin sucks up the hurt and gets his Second Wind

Erais shuffles back from the swarm, and then launches a Sacred Flame at the pesky bats, another miss. The Sunlord tries harder, much harder (after an Action Point)- the swarm is suddenly engulfed in a Cascade of Light- it burns.

And when the light is gone the flying vermin have lost over half of their number, the swarm is bloodied- but still regenerating however.

Erais mutters yet another prayer and Riardon’s wounds are gone in an instant.

The bat swarm moves back to menace Riardon some more, the eladrin is the most vulnerable- what with being blind, he’s bitten a myriad times.

Kathra continues to keep the six remaining beggars at bay, although she takes a few more hits in the process; the dwarf takes a brief moment to clear her head, taking her Second Wind, ready for more action.

Tira is bitten by the bats, she moves back and unleashes another Cursed Eldritch Blast, alas the bats are far too quick and outmaneuver her power.

Riardon, still blinded, is likewise bitten some more- he staggers, and then disappears, his Fey Step teleports him away from the danger- working on instinct he also unleashes another arrow- which alas flies high, wide and handsome.

A burst of flame suddenly engulfs the swarm, Erais’ Sacred Flame- the swarm is decimated, destroyed.

The players are wreathed in smiles; the swarm could have done a lot more damage than it did.

Kathra smashes another two of the beggars down- she’s proved adept at keeping them at bay so far, although she’s hit again with the table leg.

Tira, still subject to the bat toxin, manoeuvres away from the beggars and launches her Eldritch Blast- another one of the disheveled humans bursts in to flames, and soon after expires.

Riardon mean time is out of the action, still blind, the eladrin glugs down a healing potion and at last shakes off his visual impairment.

Erais fires off a Sacred Flame at one of the beggars but fails to connect.

Kathra fights on, misses her enemies this time, and is stabbed back in return- there are only three of the beggars left to defeat however.

Tira’s Eldritch Blast takes out the first, Riardon- who can now see again, accounts for the second.

The final beggar flops on to the slick cobblestones, throwing away his weapon, and begs to be spared.

Erais nods, grabs the filthy human up and rushes in to the decrepit warehouse, and out of the rain.

The adventurers have an easy time extracting information from the lone surviving beggar, the wretch is terrified of the guys- the cobblestones still slick with the blood of his fellows. It seems the Beggar King has not been seen for a while; consensus is that something bad has happened to him, although the beggar, 'Filthy Tony', has no idea what. He has however noticed, during fleeting moments of sobriety, an increase in the number of mercenaries hired in to defend his erstwhile master's lair- again he cannot account for this. All he knows is something is very, very wrong.

The beggar also points the adventurers in the direction of the Beggar King's court, up a rickety ladder and through an open window, hardly the most dignified way to enter the royal throne room. The guys, after a short rest, decide it’s time to end this, to finally pay the Beggar King a visit.

Soon after the adventurers are up the ladder and fully assembled in the Beggar King's throne room, there are two guards over the far side of the chamber- although neither has moved an inch- suspicious. Also on the far side of the chamber is a cot-cum-bed, occupied, the inhabitant shaking and moaning in their sleep- the Beggar King is having nightmares it seems.

Other than that... hang on, Riardon and Erais spot movement, in the rafters above- a weasely looking Human in black leather armour.

The adventurers scream a warning and launch their attacks; the man in the rafters already has a dagger in hand.

Once again the guys are operating with a shoot first ask questions later policy, Riardon is first in to the action- firing in to the rafters with his bow, and after his first shot misses he tries again (Action Point). The second arrow strikes the miscreant above in the shoulder, actually impaling the scoundrel briefly- blood gushes.

Riardon’s Action Point attack is a Critical Hit for 21 points of damage, Black Shet is almost bloodied after only one hit.

The rogue in the rafters however is not giving up, he spins out his throwing dagger- the blade thumps in to Tira’s chest, the tiefling staggers and almost falls. Moments later the villain in black scuttles along the rafters and in to the shadows in the eaves of the roof, and out of sight.

Erais scans the area- he can no longer see the villain, he moves in to the chamber- eyes on the ceiling searching desperately for the knife throwing menace…

WHOOOOM!

Suddenly a huge section of the floor falls away, a massive pit trap.

Erais is left dangling, having grabbed on to the edge of the opening just in time. The Sunlord looks down- ten feet or so below him is a cage of some sort- with an inviting open top, the cage is suspended from a taught rope, at least thirty or forty feet above a vast rushing river of water. There are torches below illuminating a huge chamber.

Erais takes a fresh grip and begins to haul himself up and out of danger.

Tira clutches at her wound and staggers, attempts to weave her magic- Witchfire illuminates the rafters, scorches several of them too- but doesn’t connect with the hidden villain. Angry Tira tries again, an Eldritch Blast follows (after an Action Point) but it too is wide of the mark.

Kathra meantime is all the way around the pit and to the far side- she smashes the first guard down, it needs to be said that the guards have still not moved an inch.

The first guard is a wooden dummy with clothes on- it tumbles in to the pit, the dwarf fighter looks sorely disappointed.

Riardon scurries around the outside of the pit also, desperate to spot their enemy- success, the ranger points and screams at Black Shet, then fires another arrow, the black clad rogue clutches at his side, almost falls from the beams.

Black Shet is one hit away from…

THUD!

A different dagger but the same result, Tira takes a second blade to the chest, she collapses- the blood gushing from the second wound.

Erais clambers up from the pit and rushes over- moments later Tira stirs. The Sunlord looks up- instantly spots the rogue in the rafters and mutters dark words- Black Shet suddenly panics, rushes forward across the beams, and slips, and falls.

He lands cat-like on his feet on solid ground, and not far away from Erais and Tira.

The later sits up, still clutching at her wounds, Tira points with her wand and the rogue is suddenly, and fatally, engulfed by flames- her Eldritch Blast.

The adventurers take a moment to stare over the edge, down in to the pit, just a moment however- Erais indicates the sleeping figure- the Beggar King? Doubtful.

The guys head over; the slumbering figure is awoken- at knife point. She screams.

The figure turns out to be street urchin by the name of Reena, she’s bound and gagged, and when released wants her mum.

It’s enough to break a tough adventurer’s heart.

Reena suddenly screams again, and points, the adventurers turn just in time to see two sturdy looking miscreants, followed by Arthuro the Fence, climbing in the window.

Comment: Arthuro, the Rogue from the Bazaar of the Bizarre- you remember (see Encounter #3), he and his two friends climb in to the Beggar King's Throne Room-loyal to the last.

In truth the PCs are a whisker away from having enough XP to advance to Level 2, therefore I've added the next encounter to take them the rest of the way- I need them to be Level 2 before they head below, into the Dungeon of the Beggar King. There are only four of them, without five PCs things are going to be tough, particularly if what happened last time I played this scenario happens again. You'll see...

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Which thuds in to the far wall, missing the previously bound and gagged young girl by inches, Riardon looks livid.

His bow sings and Arthuro sprouts an arrow from his chest, the eladrin scowls at the fence who looks sheepish, and hurt.

A critical hit by Riardon on Arthuro the Fence for 22 points of damage to start the fracas.

Erais’s Lance of Faith likewise slams in to the fence, the Sunlord is equally displeased, the child could have been killed- Arthuro screams in agony.

Kathra meantime scuttles back around the gaping pit and cuts off the first of Arthuro’s buddies- the toughs, the dwarf shows the human a thing or two about combat- she smashes the guy with her warhammer, it’s all the tough can do to avoid falling down the pit.

Arthuro is suddenly, and finally, engulfed in flames- Tira’s Cursed Witchfire, the fence thumps on to his knees and then face-plants the floor, still burning- dead.

The first tough swings hard at Kathra, she ducks just in time.

The second rushes around the other side of the pit and slams his mace in to Erais, the Sunlord is badly winded- left gasping for air.

Erais absorbs a critical hit for 19 points of damage.

Riardon attempts to come to the rescue of Erais, alas his arrow flies high and wide. Erais fights back but doesn’t manage to land a blow- the human facing him is clearly adept in attack and defence.

Kathra meantime slams her warhammer in to the other tough, moments later the guy is Cursed courtesy of Tira and hit by her Eldritch Blast- he’s seen enough, the tough flees, or else- tries to.

Kathra smashes the human in the back, a fatal attack.

The other tough, although now facing off against the entire party, fights on- although he fails to connect with Erais.

Moments later the tough learns to regret his decision, he takes an arrow to his right arm, and then a grazing blow to his left thigh courtesy of Erais’ mace.

And yet stubborn to the last, and even as the other adventurers unleash their fury, the tough decides to tough it out.

Just to say behind my DMs Screen I usually just roll a D20- high number and the monster fights on, medium number and in this situation he does the sensible thing and surrenders, low number and he flees. This isn’t going to be a long fight- there’s no concern about grind, I’d rather just play it out. Obviously if I had something I wanted the bad guy to say then I’d surrender right now without the roll. Obviously I kept rolling high.

Riardon fires another arrow wide, Erais lands another hit- although only a grazing blow which barely breaks the skin- Kathr and Tira are however now on hand, they make the tough pay.

Kathra slams her warhammer in the guys back, moments later the Cursed human is hit by Tira’s Eldritch Blast- and is destroyed.

Comment: And they guys have made it through the first level of the dungeon- the adventurers settle down to take an Extended Rest, after searching the bad guys and the throne room for money et al.

They take the ladder away that leads up to the throne room after first clearing up below- getting rid of the bloody bodies. They then take it in turns to head into Fallcrest, to try to sell or indeed exchange some of the magic items they have found that are of no use to them.

They're all also up to Level 2.

Obviously this is not a campaign so I don’t mind a bit of ‘magic shop’, it’s also the end of the session- and the guys have played in Fallcrest before. Therefore we do a little bit of role-play, a bit of haggling here and there, visits to different vendors- playing one off against another, a few skill checks.

And these are the results-

Riardon swaps out the +1 Duelist Dagger (from Black Shet, the rogue in the rafters) and some money for a +1 Targeting Longbow.

Erais swaps the +1 Short Sword and a little coin for a +1 Mace.

Kathra swaps the +1 Bastard Sword and a little coin for a +1 Warhammer.

Tira keeps the +1 Dagger.

The rescued young girl is taken to the appropriate authorities, hopefully her parents (if they're alive) can be found.

During the adventurers time resting in the throne room they discover another concealed trapdoor in the floor of the chamber, with a rickety ladder heading down in to the huge chamber below.

And so ends the second session of play.

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And so the adventurers, now fully rested and re-equipped, head down the ladder and in to the huge cavern below. To their right the river flows, they’re on a rocky ledge which leads east to a larger, open, area.

Clearly the suspended cage they spied earlier- down the pit, is part of some sort of elaborate trap, or else a transportation device, perhaps both. Pulleys and cables lead down to a great capstan far to the east. The entire area is illuminated by torchlight- the great windlass is probably used to draw the cable-car like device in.

Also ahead, on a beach, are a number of what look to be cells (labelled A to D on the map), some of which seem to be inhabited- what is this place?

Last, but by no means least, the adventurers spot a large creature by the windlass, a shaggy black-haired beast, a great ape. Fortunately the creature seems to be chained to the cavern wall.

The adventurers move forward, pressed hard against the wall, trying to stay out of sight.

There are people in the cages down on the beach- two ladies dressed in fine clothes, an aged male in robes and two gap-toothed beggars; the inhabitants spot the adventurers, begin to gesture and call over. Riardon looks stern and attempts to ‘shush’ them, but the two beggars are having none of it- the pair begin caterwauling, making a terrible racket.

This in turn agitates the great ape; the beast screeches and howls, flails and pulls on its restraining chain.

The adventurers desperately attempt to shush the drunken beggars, but too late.

A trio of armoured hobgoblins saunter in to the chamber through a cave opening, hidden from the adventurer's sight, the beggars in the cages scream and point.

Riardon is first in to the action, the eladrin’s bow sings and two arrows fly- the first two hobgoblins are struck, the pair scream in alarm and instantly back-pedal, unslinging their bows from their backs.

Moments later two arrows fly back at Riardon, one grazes the eladrin’s right arm, the other heads well wide. The third hobgoblin rushes over to the capstan and the great ape, moments later the chain around the beast falls away.

The great beast rushes forward- towards the adventurers, it covers the intervening distance in seconds- slamming both fists down at Riardon- the eladrin scuttles back just in time.

Kathra dodges in front of Riardon- roars her anger and smashes her warhammer in to the great ape; she pushes the creature back with her Tide of Iron.

Erais’ fires off a radiant Lance of Faith which singes the ape, Tira’s Witchfire however fails to manifest.

Riardon scurries back a little further and then fires two more arrows at the ferocious beast, the first misses its target, the second thunks in to the creature’s left orb, shatters it- the beast roars its disapproval.

Riardon with a critical hit for 27 points of damage leaving the Great Ape on 5 hit points only.

The hobgoblins scream and shout, the ape is almost finished, even they can see that- the trio back-pedal further, to the cavern entrance, ready themselves once more and then fire their bows, this time at Kathra.

All three miss.

As does the great ape.

Erais mutters a short prayer and fire suddenly engulfs the ape, it staggers once, and then sinks to its knees- finally flops forward, still smouldering- dead.

Kathra grips her warhammer, looks up- spies the hobgoblins and charges, smashing in to the first goblinoid, bloodying the archer.

At the same moment a burst of blazing stars shoot forth from Tira’s wand, the hobgoblin Kathra is menacing is cut down dead, a second is left scalded and swatting at its singed skin.

Riardon strides forward, bow at the ready, he takes aim- and fires, the second hobgoblin falls, clutching at its throat and the arrow lodged there.

Riardon strides on, takes aim again, and fires again- his second arrow thumps in to the last remaining hobgoblin, protruding from its right thigh. Staggering, and dragging its leg, the wailing goblinoid rushes back the way it came, it disappears entirely in to the shadows of the cave.

The hobgoblin heads through area 2-2 and in to 2-5 on the map above, the portcullis is up.

Erais chases after the hobgoblin survivor, skids around the corner and spies down the rocky passage- there’s a set of stairs leading down in to a well lit chamber, visible beyond a sturdy set of open wooden doors. Through the doors, amidst campfires and sprawling bedrolls, are a dozen-or-so creatures, goblins and more hobgoblins- a barracks.

Erais screams for his fellows, moments later Kathra and Tira sprint around the corner to join him, Riardon is still coming on behind- ahead the goblinoids grab for their weapons and jump to their feet- battle is about to be joined again.

The creatures are situated in the Great Slaver Hall, area 2-5A on the map above.

Alas, for the adventurers, the goblins are not alone- their leader is present- Gorliss the Goat a Dragonborn Warlord, in addition joining the fracas are four more Hobgoblin Slavers and six Goblin Archers (Minions), and remember there are still only four PCs in action.

Riardon appears at last, settles himself- takes aim, and fires- the hobgoblin Erais was chasing takes an arrow to the back, it has to cling on to the rocky cavern wall to save itself from falling. A goblin archer, just rising, is hit by the eladrin’s second arrow, it slumps back down dead.

The players breath again, thank god- some of their enemies are Minions.

Gorliss the Dragonborn grabs up his greatsword and then screaming all the way charges in to Kathra, two of the hobgoblins follow after- the dwarf is cut twice, although both only minor wounds.

The three remaining hobgoblins grab out their bows- settle themselves, and fire.

At Kathra again.

Two out of three of the arrows hit home, the dwarf staggers- bloodied.

The Sunlord moves a little closer to the Kathra, sends out a trio of radiant beams, his Divine Glow, Gorliss is singed, as is another of the hobgoblins attacking the dwarf. Erais mutters a short prayer and Kathra’s wounds mostly heal over.

Four of the five goblin archers grab out their bows and fire in to the mix- again their target is Kathra, the dwarf takes one very minor wound.

The last goblin- a brave soul seemingly, grabs out its short sword and charges the dwarf- Kathra, keeps the creature at bay.

Tira Curses the closest enemy, and then with the wand she took from the fat tiefling Zeb’oltha she conjures again her Blazing Starfall- two of the goblins are burnt to death, while one of the hobgoblins and Gorliss suffer minor burns.

Remember Zeb’s wand allows an already used Encounter Power to be used again.

Tira tries again, concentrating her efforts on the wild-looking Dragonborn (after an Action Point), she sends out her Eldritch Blast- Gorliss is too quick, and the magic misses its target.

Riardon fires another Twin Strike- his first arrow kills dead one of the hobgoblins menacing Kathra, his second slams in to Gorliss- the dragonborn staggers, bloodied at last.

Actually Gorliss is down to 10 hit points from 56 hit points.

The dragonborn screams its fury and then unleashes its Bastion of Defence- smashing in to Kathra, who is bloodied once more. Gorliss’ goblinoid allies in the chamber answer their leaders call- they find fresh energy to take the fight to the adventurers. A moment later many of Gorliss’ wounds heal over as he mutters Inspiring Words.

Gorliss’ Bastion of Defence, a Daily power, grants all allies in 5 squares +1 To Hit until the end of the encounter and 7 temporary hit points each.

The goblin archers drop their bows and draw out short swords- they rush to attack, two slash at Kathra- to no effect, while a second pair charge Erais- the Sunlord is cut twice although luckily only scratches.

Erais steps quickly back out of the fracas, unleashes a Sacred Flame- but again Gorliss is too quick, and then prays some more- Kathra’s wounds, once again, heal over.

That's all of Erais' healing spent.

The three remaining goblins get in to the action- two attack Kathra, the dwarf takes yet another minor wound, the last menaces Erais but the Sunlord keeps the creature at bay.

Tira points with her magic wand- Gorliss suddenly drops his sword and tries desperately to rub his eyes to clear his sight, grimacing the dragonborn sinks to his knees and then flops down dead fatally affected by the tiefling’s Eyebite power. Tira suddenly disappears in a puff of smoke- her Misty Step, she’s back at the rear of the adventurers- as far away from harm as she can get.

Riardon unleashes another Twin Strike, alas both arrows sail well wide of their targets.

The hobgoblins continue to battle on- two on Kathra, she takes another minor wound; and two on Erais, but he manages to keep the pair at bay, again.

The Sunlord backs away further, getting clear of his attackers- his Sacred Flame, with additional fire from his Power of Amaunator, engulfs one of the hobgoblins- the creature however looks unconcerned.

Kathra slashes hard but fails to connect, the dwarf calls on her Second Wind and gets her breath back- just in time as a pair of goblins dart in and cut at her.

Tira’s Eyebite comes again- causing another of the hobgoblins to stagger and shake its head, the creature is left bloodied and unable to see Tira anymore.

Riardon unleashes another volley, two more arrows- two more misses.

The hobgoblins attack and Kathra is struck once again- the dwarf swats back but misses her attacker. Erais is however on hand- a burst of Sacred Flame destroys one of the hobgoblins facing off against the female dwarf.

It’s not enough, the adventurers need to start making their mark, Kathra cries out as the same pair of goblins dodge in and stab her again.

One of the goblins pays the price instantly; the creature gouges at its eyes and then slumps down dead- Tira’s Eyebite comes again.

Riardon fires again- one of the hobgoblins facing Erais drops down dead, the other clutches at a fresh wound- the eladrin is back on target it seems.

There are only two hobgoblins and two goblins left in the fight- Kathra and Erais defend successfully against their attackers, both then lash out, the hobgoblin facing Kathra is cut down, the one facing Erais is bloodied.

That’s enough, the last two goblins shuffle back a little way, and then turn and run- back in to the chamber from which they emerged- screaming all the while.

Tira’s Eldritch Blast leaves the last hobgoblin bruised and burnt- not long left for this world.

The goblin archers flee through the chamber in which they were camped and then hard right and out of sight.

There’s a brief moment when nothing happens- the lone battered hobgoblin looks left, then right- he has no friends here- and so cuts and runs- Kathra smashes her warhammer in to the fleeing humanoid’s back- dead.

Riardon leads the way, the adventurers- without a second thought hustle after the two escaping goblins, they reach the exit of the Great Hall (area 2-5A on the map) and turn in to yet another, open, chamber (area 2-6).

A wooden walkway spans two rocky ledges, below is another beach with a wooden ladder leading down to it, and another waterway which seems to head further underground.

On the wooden walkway, hidden in the shadows is Drazen the drow, a rogue and a slaver. Down on the beach below are a pair of muscled gnolls- Wrix and Reiko, The pair are carrying treasure chests to a large row boat; and standing by the row boat- directing operations, is Vermouth the eladrin wizard, the head of the slavers.

Needless to say the fleeing goblin archers scream and shout, and alert the slavers to the adventurer’s presence.

The drow scurries back a little way, out of sight, unseen by the adventurers as of yet.

Riardon’s not sure who is on the beach, although he can see some figures down there, he can also see the two goblins yelling and pointing back at him- his arrows fly. Moments later both goblins tumble off the wooden walkway and on to the sand below.

Vermouth, the eladrin mage screams at the gnolls, the pair drop what they’re doing and rush for the ladder.

Erais moves a little forward- looks down to see what’s happening, the Sunlord takes a moment to get his Second Wind. Meantime Kathra bundles on forward, on to the walkway, moments later the dwarf has to duck as a Force Bolt fired by Vermouth passes just over her head and smashes in to the cavern wall sending splinters of rock flying.

The first gnoll makes it up the ladder, draws out a whip, and flails at Kathra- the dwarf is much too quick. The second gnoll follows up, and is slammed with Kathra’s warhammer as it approaches.

Tira Curses the nearest gnoll and then hits it with an Eldritch Blast- the humanoid seems unconcerned, that is until Riardon’s second shot finds the spot- the creature staggers, almost falls, bloodied.

Vermouth suddenly appears atop the wooden walkway, behind the gnolls- the mage fires a second Force Bolt which slams in to Kathra, who somehow manages avoid being flung on to the beach, she Stands Her Ground.

Erais’ Lance of Faith burns the second gnoll- both creatures are now bruised and battered.

Kathra attempts to end one of the creatures but over-reaches herself and instead is hit by the second gnoll's maul- she’s now also bloodied.

Tira’s follow up Eldritch Blast is way off target.

Suddenly a small dark elf darts in to sight and fires a hand crossbow, Kathra is taken completely by surprise, the dwarf staggers- almost drops. The drow scurries back out of sight again.

Kathra is down to two hit points.

Riardon reacts, another pair of arrows fly over Kathra’s head- moments later both gnolls topple sideways off the wooden walkway- excellent shooting.

Kathra eyes Vermouth- the way is clear to the eladrin mage, a moment later a Force Blast erupts in the adventurer’s midst- Kathra drops unconscious, while Erais and Tira are bruised but not yet bloodied.

Vermouth screams at the guys to ‘clear out’, actually his language is a little more descriptive, and florid.

Erais unleashes his Cascade of Light- the effect is underwhelming, Vermouth seems less than impressed.

Erais’ Daily does 8 radiant damage- that’s about the least he could roll.

Tira launches her Eldritch Blast- again the eladrin mage survives with only very minor burns.

Drazen, the drow dodges back in to sight- PING! Tira clutches at the spot, the tiefling staggers bloodied.

Riardon has had enough, the eladrin strides a little forward- fires once, twice, three times (with an Action Point in there)- two of his three arrows hit, Vermouth tumbles off the ledge- dead.

Which just leaves the drow.

Erais rushes forward, the Sunlord grabs out his mace and smashes it in to Drazen, alas the ‘smash’ is more a glancing blow. Tira however makes up for this, her Eldritch Blast catches the drow full force- the inhabitant of the underdark is left only just conscious.

Kathra meanwhile coughs up a slick of blood- having failed her first death save.

Tira’s Eldritch Blast was a critical hit for 22 points of damage.

The adventurers close in on the drow, Drazen looks around him- there’s nowhere to hide, and then leaps down to the beach- or at least that is his intention.

Whenever a bad guy uses a skill like athletics I roll a D20, just to give me an idea of how successful they are- it’s only ten feet down to the beach and, oh I rolled a ‘1’, so I roll the dice again for damage- a D10, that’s a ‘10’.

Drazen trips as he leaps- plunges head first towards the beach, nothing to break his fall, except his neck.

The drow is dead.

Erais is quickly to the fallen Kathra, a moment later the dwarf is stable, the encounter- at last, is over.

Comment: That was very obviously titanic, and the players absolutely loved it... just a little bit more each time- Goodman Games scenarios are so easy to run this way, I love them. I guess I should try for more like this in future adventures, or at least when it feels right. This was a Level 9 encounter, that's pretty awesome- PCs Level +7, and but for maybe two rounds of attrition (when the PCs and the bad guys were not connecting) then it was a roller-coaster ride.

After a short rest the adventurers are down on to the beach, having secured the area as best they can, the treasure chests are hauled up, the dead slavers et al thoroughly searched and all findings deposited in the now bloody Great Hall.

The guys then back track to the slave cages on the first beach, spring three of the inhabitants- two beautiful young women, one of noble status, and the old guy- who turns out to be something of a sage. The beggars that alerted the slavers earlier are left to think about their actions.

The ex-slaves, captured from the streets of Fallcrest, tell what little they know- a sad tale about beggars working for the slavers, alas no new information is forthcoming regarding the Beggar King. In fact the Beggar King seems to be entirely absent, none of the rescued citizens of Fallcrest have even seen or heard him...

A mystery.

The citizens are sent up, guided by Kathra back out of the Beggar King's lair.

The adventurers note a strange, partially collapsed tunnel- back in the passage that lead to the Great Hall, they head back to take a look. The passageway was clearly once sealed, with an ornate... seal. Darkness beyond and a set of shallow stairs leading up- the passage is particularly cramped- the guys figure they’ll come back here later.

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The adventurers are in the Slaver’s Great Hall, location 2-5A; 2-5B is the secret chamber that contains the chest.

A thorough search of the Slaver’s Great Hall and a small concealed chamber in one of the rocky walls is found, inside is an Amulet of Protection +1, as identified by Tira.

Kathra's badge of office is her +1 Amulet of Protection.

Soon after a much larger false wall leading in to a separate chamber is found, inside of the rough stone chamber is a very large chest- the adventurers are certain it must be trapped, and yet fifteen minutes later and no trap can be found. The guys take it in turns to creep in to the cramped chamber- to take a look around, still nothing- no trap.

Finally Tira is elected chest-opener, the price paid for claiming the Masterwork Lockpicks earlier; she creeps in and gets to work. Moments late a spear shoots down from a tiny concealed hollow in the ceiling, none of the adventurers had thought to look up there- the spear misses Tira by inches. A few seconds later a rivulet of clear liquid begins to flow down the spear and puddle on the floor- Tira sniffs at the substance- acid. That could have been nasty.

Eventually an executive decision is made, Kathra is sent in with orders to drag the chest out in to the Hall, the dwarf complies. Tira gets to work; moments later she has safely opened the chest, which turns out to be all but empty- there are only three gold coins within- bummer.

There’s actually a false bottom in the chest and a bunch of potions but the players don’t think to look- bummer.

The adventurers turn their attention to the chests and the coffers on the beach, previously being loaded on to the slaver boat by the gnolls- there are five of them, they’re brought up in to the Hall, soon after Tira is back in action-

Chest #1 the trap which fires an arrow out is easily disarmed, the chest itself is unlocked- contained within is a pile of coins, almost exclusively coppers.

Chest #2 is not trapped, but even after thirty minutes of trying Tira is forced to give up, the lock is far too complex for her skills.

Chest #3 is also not trapped and easily unlocked- more coins are found within. There follows a brief moment of jubilation- short-lived. The fifty or so platinum coins turn out to be painted coppers, Kathra soon discovers.

Chest #4 is trapped to fire out a hail of needles; again however it is easily disarmed and soon after unlocked. Within is everything one would need to take on the role of a journey man thief- scratch that journey man Assassin- with plenty of poisons to choose from, and another (even better) set of Thieves Tools; as well as the clothes and the weapons. The adventurers presume that this was the dead drow’s chest- they’re a little racist it seems.

Chest #5 is not trapped and easily unlocked, within are 15 silver ingots- with dwarven markings, trade bars from the underdark- suspicious.

The money and goods are quickly divided, adding in all that the adventurers have found so far, and the money garnered from those recently slain, for the first time the guys feel that the reward has been worth the effort, a good haul.

The Defiled Seal is in chamber 2-2, leading on to chamber 2-3, and 2-4.

The adventurers back track a short distance, to the broken seal they spotted earlier- there’s a cramped passage beyond. Riardon examines the area, the ranger determines that the seal had remained unbroken for quite some time- an age, it was broken open only two weeks, or so, ago- a single set of footsteps lead in- but not out.

Care is taken; Riardon and Tira are convinced they should take a look within, Kathra and Erais are less inclined, curiosity wins.

Riardon and Tira lead the way.

A flight of roughly cut stairs lead up to a shadowy hexagonal chamber, there are lit candles on the floor, and carvings- it looks like some sort of ceremonial chamber. The footprint mystery is over- the body of a robed individual lies sprawled in the center of the chamber.

The adventurers decide on extreme caution, they begin by throwing stones at the body on the floor- it doesn't rise, a ten minute discussion follows- what next? The situation is resolved when Riardon, fed up with the chatter, dashes in to the chamber and grabs the corpse by a foot and drags it out clunking all the way back down the stairs.

For dead guy read dead Wizard, complete with Ritual Book and a pair of cheap, but silver plated, non-magical bracers, all of which are obviously taken.

The adventurers vote to head on, whatever strange ritual or rite took place in the chamber is beyond them, they’re disinclined to hang around to investigate.

Comment: In game I think I spooked them a little with my description of the chamber, I also had the players roll random D20s for no reason- except for me to pretend to mark things down on a sheet.

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Onwards, over the wooden walkway- the beach below, into a dull stone corridor, a metal door on the left-hand wall, and... yet another mystery- a loathsome statue of a giant rat, and by giant I mean nine feet from snout to the tip of its tail.

The statue has fist sized rubies for eyes, before it a sprawl of gold coins and a beautifully crafted dagger.

There follows a brief, actually very brief, conversation- the result of which is the adventurers choose to ignore the statue and its treasure completely, and move over to the metal door in the southern wall.

I know... I know- they call themselves adventurers but these guys are pretty wary.

The metal door is warm to the touch...

That's not what they expected.

Very warm...

Comment: Iain assures me (out of game, obviously) that they'll be back to trigger the rat trap (they’re convinced) after they've dealt with the Beggar King- that'll be nice for me. I think I'm being patronised, how very lovely for me.

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After a short discussion the adventurers decide upon their tactics- it begins with Kathra kicking the hot to touch door open- Hell lies within.

The chamber ahead is the lowest level of a round tower, a stone stair spirals up into darkness and shadow, down below the entire floor of the chamber is covered in soot and ash, on the far wall a series of fiery ovens poking out of which are the feet and scattered bones of the Beggar King's recent victims.

Standing in the center of the chamber is the Beggar King himself, the obese fellow’s skin hangs in folds about him, his head tipped back- mouth as far open as it can go- further than it should be able to go, his jaw must be broken, a shadowy form hovers in the Beggar King's maw.

'Kill me- it's the only way...'

The Beggar King gasps, which is all the invitation the adventurers need, their task is made more difficult when a pair of Cinder Skeletons (Blazing Skeletons) clamber out the ovens ready to defend their Lord.

Tira Curses and then launches her Eldritch Blast at the closest skeleton, bones splinter, smash and scatter.

The Beggar King hiccups and shoots a swathe of flame from his open mouth, Erais is singed and burnt. For good measure the emaciated fat man, or so it seems with his vast folds of flesh, points at Erais who moments later is struck by a Shadow Bolt, the Sunlord staggers- bloodied already. The cleric also shakes and shivers furiously, beset by ongoing necrotic and cold affects.

One of the fiery skeletons suddenly blinks out of existence only to reappear in the doorway- preventing the adventurers from closing in on the Beggar King.

Erais offers up his holy symbol which suddenly radiates a myriad beams of light- he Turns Undead, the skeleton blocking the doorway is smashed and bloodied, sent skittering back and frozen to the spot. The other skeleton is struck a lesser blow, although it too is now bloodied. The Sunlord mutters another prayer and his wounds instantly heal over, he also shrugs off the hurt from the Beggar King’s previous attack.

The immobilised skeleton forms a ball of flame in its hands, which it launches at Erais- the human burns, if only a little. The second fiery skeleton rushes back out of the chamber and claws at Tira, the tiefling is likewise left singed.

Riardon backs away and readies his bow, fires two arrows in quick succession, the fiery skeleton menacing Tira is smashed to pieces.

A third cinder skeleton climbs out of the ovens on the far side of the chamber, and rushes forward towards the adventurers.

Just in time to be met by Kathra’s Passing Attack, the dwarf smashes the skeleton with her warhammer and then rushes on to swipe at the Beggar King, ineffectually as it turns out.

Kathra growls and tries again, this time with her Brute Strike (Action Point), her warhammer thumps in to the Beggar King, although the strange fellow’s fleshy folds seem to absorb most of the damage. In the chamber Kathra notes a dark and pungent furze- a choking smoke which leaves her slightly breathless.

Unseen by the adventurers, way up high in the tower, an inky black splodge detaches itself from the structure and descends to investigate the events below, another Shadow Bat Swarm- the guy’s favourite.

The bat swarm spirals down and cloaks Kathra, the dwarf swats and swishes but can't keep the bats at bay- teeth chattering from the cold and beset by ongoing necrotic damage she struggles on.

Tira moves a little closer to the action and unleashes her Blazing Starfall- glittering streaks of light that target both of the fiery skeletons, although neither of them are struck, the tiefling does however put out the fire that was burning her.

The Beggar King is rooted to the spot, the strange creature attempts to launch another Shadow Bolt but is smashed by Kathra in the process- her necrotic missile however manages to hit home- bringing further pain to the female dwarf.

Suddenly the newly arrived skeleton disappears only to reappear again blocking the doorway, once more.

Erais gets in to action- his Lance of Faith slams in to the fiery skeleton blocking the way, the creature is almost smashed to pieces, bloodied it staggers wildly. Erais is determined however, he raises his holy symbol again and from it sends out his Divine Glow- lances of radiant light strike both skeletons, the pair explode in flurries of splintered bone.

The adventurers look overjoyed- just the Beggar King and the Shadow Bat Swarm to see off.

Two more cinder skeletons climb out the ovens and rush forward to defend their master.

The two new undead arrivals claw at Kathra with their burning digits- the dwarf defends one but cannot prevent the second from raking its fiery fingers down her back- she burns.

Riardon repositions, still outside of the chamber, and then with his Twin Strike the eladrin ranger smashes two arrows in to the closest skeleton, which is now bloodied.

Kathra stuggles- freezing from the bat swarm’s cold and necrosis, while at the same time burning from wounds inflicted by one of the fiery skeletons, she staggers and almost falls- bloodied. The dwarf sucks up the hurt and takes her Second Wind. Then smashes her warhammer through the closest of the fiery skeletons, the think shatters and is destroyed, her warhammer describes a full circle and thuds in to the Beggar King’s side.

The bat swarm continues to menace the dwarf but Kathra manages this time to keep it at bay, while at the same time shaking off almost all of the ongoing damage she was taking.

The players are holding their own, the encounter is now a Level 6, and they love it, Kathra is in the thick of the action- giggling like a loon and wondering what to try next.

The shadow bat swarm swirls again around the tenacious dwarf; biting, flapping, clawing- Kathra is cut and bruised- bloodied (again), and back to shivering and shaking.

Tira moves in to the doorway, Curses the Beggar King and then swathes the strange fellow in Witchfire- he burns. Then with her rod in hand she points and whispers, the Beggar King’s eyes roll over, for a moment it looks like he’s going to shut his mouth, but the magic soon fades.

Tira’s Daily power Curse of the Dark Dream misses, which just means she gets to slide the Beggar King one square every turn- until he saves, I’ll save you the suspense, the Beggar King saves against the power the first chance he gets. That’s a sucky Daily.

The Beggar King fights back, sends out another Shadow Bolt, after first avoiding Kathra’s warhammer swat. The dwarf suffers some more, staggers and almost hits the deck.

Kathra is on two hit points, and taking at least seven points of ongoing damage.

The last remaining fiery skeleton suddenly disappears only to reappear moments later next to Kathra.

You may be wondering why the Beggar King isn’t moving about the chamber, the truth is he's stuck in place, a remnant of the ritual he was participating in prior to the adventurers arrival- he also doesn’t have any melee based attacks.

Erais shoots out his Lance of Faith at the Beggar King, alas off target, and then mutters prayers as Kathra’s wounds once again heal over- but not enough, the dwarf is still bloodied even after the Sunlord’s Healing Word.

The last remaining fiery skeleton claws at Tira, the tiefling burns- although only a little.

Riardon repositions yet again, sets himself and then fires- both arrows of his Twin Strike slam in to the Beggar King, the forlorn human wails and screams, and then as suddenly stops. A burst of shadowy black energy seems to pulse from the now bloodied fiend; Tira, Erais and Riardon gasp as they’re struck by a wave of nauseating necrotic energy, Kathra seems unmoved- and indeed unharmed by the effect. The wounds of the shadow bat swarm instantly heal over.

Note Tira and Erais are bloodied in the Beggar King’s Shadow Burst.

Riardon fires again, another two arrows fly in to the charnel tower (after an Action Point), the first arrow from his Split the Tree attack smashes in to the remaining fiery skeleton, leaving the creature staggering and bloodied. The second almost finishes off the Beggar King, striking the unfortunate fellow exactly where his heart should be.

Kathra, meanwhile, continues to suffer in the Beggar King’s Shadow Haze, combined with a myriad other ongoing affects. The dwarf however remains standing- after also managing to avoid the shadow bat swarms Cloud of Teeth attack. She smashes her warhammer in to the Beggar King, who defies gravity and remains upright- Cleaving through she swats a few of the shadow bats down.

In game we’re on a knife edge- the bad guys are hanging around while the guys are all suffering- three of the PCs have less than 10 hit points each.

The bat swarm swirls and whirls and tries again to bring death and destruction to Kathra, but again the dwarf somehow manages to keep the creatures at bay.

Tira shakes off the skeleton’s fire, but not before wasting a badly aimed Eldritch Blast.

Meantime the Beggar King once more opens his mouth to expel a Flame Gout, Kathra’s quicker still- she smashes her warhammer in to the human, who finally crumples and then drops.

The Beggar King is dead!

The remaining cinder skeleton crumbles to dust.

You should have heard the cheer around the table, a little excessive with the swearing but... the player's moods seem to have improved considerably.

Erais fires another burning radiant Lance of Faith in to the bat swarm- cutting a swathe this time through the inky black bolus. Riardon’s Twin Strike is however much less effective, much much less effective.

Kathra swats at the swarm and smashes yet more of the bats dead- while successfully avoiding the swarm’s attack.

The players are cheering in the aisles, they’re whooping with joy, high fives- most unbecoming.

Little do they know...

The shadow bat swarm suddenly explodes in a fury- there are bats everywhere, all the adventurers except Tira are caught in the swarms Blinding Wings; Erais is left unconscious, Riardon and Kathra bloodied and blinded.

The PCs left standing have less than 25 hit points all told between them.

That shut them up.

Tira Curses the swarm and then delivers another Eldritch Blast, incinerating a bunch more of the bats, the swarm is at last bloodied.

Erais meanwhile bleeds and coughs up blood- having failed a death save.

Riardon fires, aiming for the sound of the swarm (he’s blind remember), his Evasive Strike cuts a swathe through the center of the bats, the end is in sight (no pun intended). The eladrin shakes off the swarm’s effect- he can see again.

Iain (Kathra) makes his next rolls to a chorus of 'go on... go on... go on...'

The blinded Kathra swings and spins like a top- swats the few remaining bats out of the air- the swarm is gone, moments later the dwarf can see again- she opens her eyes to discover her enemies are all dead.

Iain breaks out what passes for a crude dance- he's nearly 50 years old, he really should know better.

Tira is quickly over to Erais, she revives the cleric with ease... the kindly DM lets the players bask in the glory for a minute or two, then...

The Beggar King suddenly comes alive, he's yanked to his feet, his eyes open, his mouth open- wider... wider... wider, he screams.

“KILL ITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!”

The Beggar King is split in two- viscera flies and from the mess emerges a Shadow Dragon.

The creature roars its approval and then is airborne and ascending the tower... the shadowy wisp of its tail elongates and stretches the flopping remains of the Beggar King clutches onto the hazy leash with a deathlock grip.

Suddenly a boulder the size of a small house crashes down from the ceiling in the rocky passage through which the adventurers entered the tower, this brings the guys back to reality- the dungeon behind them is collapsing.

“Killit.”

The remains of the Beggar King gargles; and clutches still to the Umbral Drakes tail.

The adventurers take the stairs three at a time- rushing to the apex of the tower, and the Shadow Dragon.

I allow the PCs to spend Healing Surges as they rush up the stairs of the tower- call it an adrenalin surge, it’s a new encounter after all. Just worth mentioning Healing Surges after the above healing then- Erais has none, Kathra one, and all of the PCs are very low on Daily Powers and Action Points.

Onto the roof of the now unstable tower, the adventurers scatter as the entire structure lurches hard left, which leaves a great ragged rent in the center of the fortification. The guys are above the roofs of the slums, and before them- facing away from them, is the recently birthed Shadow Dragon (or Umbra Drake), trying desperately to take to the air. The ferocious creature is being prevented from fleeing by an incredibly thin filament of shadow which leads all the way down to the Beggar King who holds tight with his deathgrip.

Erais stops muttering his prayers and begins yelling them- each of the adventurers is briefly encased in a glowing shimmering force field, the Sunlord’s Shield of Faith.

Tira’s Eldritch Blast and Riardon’s Twin Strike all target the shadow dragon; alas only one of the ranger’s arrows manages to find the mark- the creature turns to see…

Kathra charges, leaping the rift in the center of the tower, and attempts to smash her warhammer in to the dragon; the shadowy menace alas proves to be a dextrous beast and avoids the dwarf’s blow.

Erais hits the thing with her Divine Glow, burning a small portion of the shadow away, the Sunlord follows up with his Lance of Faith (after an Action Point)- but again the dragon dodges aside.

Tira is all action but no menace- the tiefling Curses and then launches her Witchfire followed by Blazing Starfall (Action Point)- neither of her powers make a mark on the umbral beast.

Tira, whisper this, is dice-cursed.

The large drake lurches around, its tail lashing out and sending Kathra spinning, the dwarf is knocked prone, she looks up to see the dark dragon’s head- jaws wide, the creature bites down, at the last moment Kathra rolls aside.

Riardon scurries back- keeping his distance from the beast, the eladrin fires twice again, his Twin Strike- both arrows hit with devastating effects, punching great holes in the beast.

Riardon rolls max damage on his first hit and a Critical hit for his second arrow.

Kathra leaps to her feet Unstoppable, and slams her warhmmer… but no, she misses again, the dwarf growls her anger and hatred.

Erais’ Lance of Faith shoots well wide while Tira at last smashes the dragon with her Cursed Eldritch Blast- the tiefling teleports away from the creature with her Ethereal Stride.

But not far enough away.

Kathra and Tira are suddenly engulfed in a shadowy mist as the umbral drake breathes down on the pair- the dwarf is unaffected but Tira is left blinded and staggering. The dragon’s tail sweeps around but Kathra leaps just in time, she likewise avoids a second bite attack (Dragon with an Action Point).

Riardon fires again- another hit.

Kathra fights back at last- smashes her warhammer in to the shadowy creature, her Tide of Iron also pushes the creature back- away from her friends. The dragon emits a piercing scream, furious and bloodied.

Erais fails again with his Lance of Faith, the blind Tira continues to take necrotic damage- her Eldritch Blast is way off target also- the tiefling cannot lift the veil of shadow which fogs her vision.

The dragon comes again, and breathes again- the same pair are caught in her gasp, but again it’s only the tiefling that is affected. The foul creature rages, Kathra jumps over another Tail Swipe and dodges the dragon’s Bite.

That was the second Action Point for the Shadow Dragon- one hit on Tira, and of the other three dice rolls the highest was a ‘3’.

Riardon fires two arrows again- the eladrin’s missiles rip through the shadow creature.

Riardon again manages to roll maximum damage on his first attack, and then maximum damage on his Critical hit second attack.

Kathra smashes the dragon again, the creature staggers, shudders and mewls like a kitten.

Erais’ Lance of Faith (if at first you do not succeed etc.) shreds one of the creature’s wings, the Sunlord waves his holy symbol in Tira’s direction and suddenly the tiefling can see again.

Just in time… the Cursed dragon is engulfed by her Eldritch Blast, it staggers.

But is not yet done… the shadowy breath comes again and this time its Kathra that is hurt, and floundering- blind; Tira escapes the blast.

Riardon’s arrows flash wide.

The dragon growls and makes ready to launch its attack.

Kathra blindly swipes and smashes the beast; the dwarf shakes her head and the mist clears- she can see again.

Erais and Tira fire their magic in to the fracas, and again their aim is off.

The umbral drake tries again with its Tail Slap and Bite attacks, both aimed at Kathra, but somehow, the dwarf is too quick for the beast.

How can that be? Aaaaarrrghhh!

Riardon aims, and fires- one moment the great drake is there, the next moment the shadow, patterned with a myriad rents and gashes, is gone.

The shadow dragon is destroyed- a loud moan echoes up from below the last mote of life leaves the creature that was the Beggar King.

750 XP Level 4 Encounter.Shadow Dragon Level 3 Solo Lurker

Comment: That was slim pickings... And felt a little cheap in the way of a climax, however (and serious now), it didn't detract too much from what was an excellent scenario. Also it could have proved to be an excellent denouement if it wasn't for the fact that no-one (with perhaps the exception of Riardon) seemed to be able to connect with the dragon.

That said, if I was going to play this scenario again I'd beef up the Shadow Dragon a little, or else have a few versions to hand- depending on how the PCs were situated Power and HP wise.

_________________My 4e Campaigns over at Obsidian Portal, check them out-

And so Goodman Games we love you, I particularly like DMing these early offerings, seemingly rushed out at the start of 4e with only a limited understanding of the edition and how it works/plays. The scenario seemed to offer a number of interesting encounters, mostly lightweight, that are parked so close to each other that they’re just bound to overlap- if the DM desires.

I like this style because it makes it easy to make the players feel heroic (maybe even epic) in-game, for example in the fight in the Bazaar, we start with Arthuro and a couple of Toughs, drag in Timmy the Otyugh, wait till the players get about clear and then throw the Dog Brothers at them- how cool is that. Obviously the addition of the Otyugh Grubs is just the icing on the cake- some players will perhaps not appreciate this ‘tough love’ style DMing but the adventurers are fighting with their back to the exit, I think they should be able to figure a way out if they need to leave in a rush.

My guys didn’t fare too well in this encounter, but again this was at times down to ‘heroic’ play- they had lots of chances to withdraw a little and leave their enemies with only limited opportunities to get at them. The floorplans (in-game) for this section included shelves and racks in the shop that could be climbed, and which also allowed the guys control the flow of the attackers- they only used this tactic once or twice, and then usually when a PC had taken a beating.

I like PC deaths; there I’ve said it- I like the lower levels to be tough, really tough if I can get the players on board with it. Back in 3e in a scenario I managed to kill an entire party of 1st level PCs two-and-a-half times with one Ghoul, 13 PC deaths courtesy of a 2 HD Ghoul- a little too tough perhaps.

Goodman Games scenarios are also full of junk (for which read flavour), that kooky stuff that reminds me of much older editions, the d100 tables of trash along with level inappropriate magic items. You never know what you’re going to get. It’s this kind of treasure/gear that ends up being part of the story. The same goes for the bad guys, for the most part in Goodman Games scenarios the bad guys have personality, or else a leader who makes it easy to sound off and make dumb threats to your players.

I also like the fact that in-game the players had no idea that there was a second level to explore, it wasn’t until the pit trap opened in the Beggar King’s throne room that they had any inclination that there was more.

I think in some ways this scenario is a blast from the past, or at least my past- it’s not big, bad or overly clever, it has a lot of simple encounters that combine well together, and it has heart- clearly written by a guy who likes to see heroes tested.

8.4/10

_________________My 4e Campaigns over at Obsidian Portal, check them out-

Note the following have been recreated using D&D Character Builder and so are slightly different to the guys we played in game, however for some strange reason I didn’t keep details- or at least complete character sheets for all of the PCs- therefore I’ve had to re-do them.

Note I allowed the PCs to spend some of their hard earned cash, and also to swap out or else sell/exchange various magic items they found along the way.

Erais, Riardon, Kathra and Tira divide up the spoils, they also manage to sell all of the items they found in their adventure that are of no use to them. They then report back to the Fallcrest City Watch- a job well done, they receive their reward, but at the same time are made to feel like they’re just the hired hands.

After a week’s rest, including a little light shopping, the adventurers are ready for more…

Although, perhaps, they may need to find a fifth member before they head back in to the dungeon.

These adventurers continue their exploits in Let’s Play#12 4e Dun158 The Tariff of Relkingham (Level 3)

See you there.

_________________My 4e Campaigns over at Obsidian Portal, check them out-

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